The RF receivers must tolerate high blocking signals while maintaining their own performance. This requires filtering for RF-signals prior to a LNA (low noise amplifier) and in many systems also after the LNA. This is especially true in code division multiple access systems (e.g., CDMA2000 and WCDMA) where a transmitter usually sends its high-level signal while a receiver receives a very low-level signal.
At the present time, filtering is done mainly with SAW (surface acoustic wave) or BAW (bulk acoustic wave) filters or resonators. These components are expensive, impossible to integrate with a standard CMOS or BiCMOS process and also require large areas of PWBs (printed wiring boards). Such filters also decrease the possibility for modularity and also increase the number of I/O's (inputs/outputs) in RFIC's (radio frequency integrated circuits) thus increasing their complexity.